My Mobiles

It was in September 2003 that I landed up in the IT city to pursue my professional aspirations. Most of the guys in our gang were also posted here. So that meant regular weekend meetings, going around the (then hot) Brigade  Road, occasional movies, dining around a table in one of those house-converted-mess eateries..

I was not a big fan of a miniature tracking device (read mobile phone). Not that i keep a distance from gadgets, but simply because I wasnt yet ready to own one on my own. I was still getting paid sack-ful of peanuts during those days, and every nut saved helps retain the digits at the right place when I check my bank account online.

KK was either too annoyed by the miser named Rat, or he was too much in love with me that he wanted to talk to me every 15 seconds to express his feelings to me. Odds favor the former. Whatever it is, I ended up losing almost half of my salary one fine day. I still remember the day.

As usual I dress up nicely on Saturday (yes, thats right... on working days, I look rather shabby) and head for JB Nagar. That used to be the hub with maximum 'friendly' population under one roof. I still get reminded of that dreadful day when I pass by this house on my way to office/home. KK has this bike and I enjoy doing the role of navigator (The navigation story way back in the college days with KK riding and me pillion riding is a hillarious episode altogether)

So here we are on the bike. What appeared to be a casual ride on a fine evening took a rather ugly climax. The shopkeeper was delighted to show all the fancy handsets - the newly launched / now in India types. But the scapegoat in me was advised by the relatively better expertised KK to buy a funny samsung device. It had this thing protruding from top - they call it antenna.

Nevertheless, it didnt take long to get used to this samsung beauty with a blue backlit screen and all that. Pouches took turn to protect it. Charger made sure it is never short of any bar on the metre. A loyal buddy for many years...

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Sharp TM100

It was time to get real fancy. And the only hope was my onsite-returning bro. Expectations never run dry with him. And I was spotted with a super cool color screen slider handset - 'sharp' written in the front and 'T Mobile' written behind. Taking pics in mobile soon became my favorite pass time. And to boast, it had a 200 sms storage capacity. (SMS is my bread and butter, in case you dint know :P). It was so much in demand that I even had to display martial arts skills one evening enroute home, to save it from prospective hijackers.
Fate has it that I ended up losing it after having misplaced it somewhere in a restaurant premises :(

I remember getting sentimental after the loss of this mobile, since it was a priceless gift. Bro said forget it, but how can I :'(
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N-series !

Year 2005. Mobile revolution was catching up. The funny egg shaped nokia handset was popular. Kiron had it. And he attached good value to it since it helps him remain grounded if he has it in his pocket. Other manufacturers were picking up with the Sony Ericsson and Motorola eyeing the younger generation.

But having seen the 'challenges' of owning a hi-fi mobile, I decided to settle down for a mobile set that had anti-theft feature. The nokia 1108. No thief would dare touch it.

A very useful piece of mass. 3 days battery backup. Torchlight for Indian conditions. Camera-attach option. Water-resistant (tested in one full bucket of hot water). Stress-tested (multiple uncountable occasions of free-fall ; at times, along with the user). child-proof (RockMon completed beta testing of this feature, but going by the google way, he has opted to keep it in beta forever)

I think it is a priceless masterpiece. It is pretty much a head-turner. I find people finding tough time to take their eyes off my mobile, particularly when they find me reading news on it, while in lift. Though their first look lands on the mobile, the 2nd stare is directed towards me - envy ? jealousy ? I dont know. I didnt bother to find out.

Tail:
1. The total expense altogether incurred in owning multiple handsets till date has not yet crossed my first peanut payout. Quite an accomplishment, isnt it :-D
2. There is one fellow in office who uses an old fashioned nokia butterfly mobile - 2300 or something. I pity him. I think he envies me.
3. Recently I purchased a sony ericsson handset - color screen, fm, speaker phone.. J200 I guess. It cost me just 1200. Less than half the cost of my N-series mobile!
4. During my wedding week, people were surprised and shocked to see a new mobile in my hand. Silly people. It was just a new all-white make-over pack. The mobile was the same :P